Alleges that murder not due to “love triangle”, but because of other motives

Pointing to gaping holes in the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] investigation of environmentalist and RTI [Right to Information] activist Shehla Masood's murder in Bhopal, her family members have demanded that a new team of CBI officials look into the case. They said she was not murdered due to the alleged ‘love triangle,' but because of other motives.

The family also demanded the trial be transferred to Bhopal, where the crime took place, instead of Indore where it is going on at present.

“I do not mean to assail the CBI. I depend on the CBI as an aggrieved father. I feel that the effort of the CBI should be to seek the truth,” renowned criminal lawyer Majid Memon spoke on behalf of Masood Sultan, Ms. Sultan's father.

He wondered why the CBI had not recorded Dhruv Narayan Singh's statement, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Bhopal, even as the agency told the court the murder was planned by another woman as a result of a love-triangle.

“Dhruv Narayan Singh does not appear anywhere in the investigation. He has not been made a witness,” Mr. Memon said.

He said the politician still filed an application and an affidavit before the Indore court, probably out of panic. “His application stated that the court take on record that his polygraph test was not conducted. Why does the CBI not clearly state in its reply whether his polygraph test was conducted in Delhi or not?” Mr Memon asked.

He expressed concern about the allegations made by the arrested accused Zahida Parvez, who allegedly ordered Ms. Masood's murder. “She told the media if Dhruv Narayan Singh is given a clean chit, so should she and if she is a suspect, he too should be. She accused a section of the CBI of pressuring her family,” he said.

Mr. Memon said the CBI was relying only on Ms. Parvez's diaries which allegedly had details about the happenings on the day of the murder as well as of the days before and after. “There are two fundamental questions in this. Zahida has no criminal background. Would a woman of a stature of Zahida — who comes from an upper middle class conservative Muslim family — have thought of murdering someone? Even if we assume she did, why would she preserve those diaries for six months when she was absolutely free? Even a foolish criminal will not do that,” Mr. Memon said.

“There are many possibilities why Shehla may have been murdered. She was emerging as a force. She was quietly working for Vidhan Parishad elections from Dhruv Narayan Singh's constituency,” he said.